Beyond that line that divided the 50% Nether content in the air, a whole slew of notifications waited for Randidly. They washed over him ceaselessly as soon as he crossed the threshold. All the accumulated Skill Levels exploded into tiny notifications.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 336!

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Smiling Horror (L) has grown to Level 359!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 341!

Congratulations! Your Skill Tide of the Void (L) has grown to Level 295!

Congratulations! Your SKill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 341!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 360!

Congratulations! Your Skill Experienced Creator’s Ingenuity (A) has grown to Level 185!

Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 332!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 352!

Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture fo the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 347!

Congratulations! Your Skill the Inscrutable Mien of Genesis (M) has grown to Level 321!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 332!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 369!

Congratulations! Resonance detected. Warning, failure to contact your Village Spirit-

Recalculating…

Congratulations! Your Skill All Else Succumbs, Yet Time Whirls the Earth (M) has evolved into Ruin is Inevitable, Yet This Too Shall Pass (T)! Skill Levels will be maintained!

Congratulations! Your Skill Ruin is Inevitable, Yet This Too Shall Pass (T) has grown to Level 285!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Grit of the Ascendant Bane (T) has grown to Level 385!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 389!

Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 370!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Architecture of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 399!

Congratulations! Your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession has grown to Level 100! Congratulations! Your Fate has reached maturity!

Warning, error-

The next piece of your Fateset has awoken from its slumber! Seek it out to continue to find your Fate!

Randidly drifted through the shadowy air, his eyes somewhat glazed over from the mass of notifications that hung in front of him like a wall of text. There were so many Skill Level Ups that he couldn’t even count them all. After flexing his fingers, Randidly opened up his Path menu and looked at what the final count was. The corners of his lips immediately curled upward; he now sat at 1712 PP.

He was still short of his Tithe from the Alpha Cosmos but by only 43 PP. In a few weeks, he would have a huge swelling of power from the Paths he could follow. Considering all the time that had passed since his last PP Tithe.

And that’s before I even figure out how long I’ve been stuck down here...

Randidly clenched his fists but quickly loosened his hands as his forearms spasmed. He still wasn’t quite used to the full experience of his body, so he was somewhat lightheaded after accelerating up here. He really needed a good meal. But as he floated in the shaft, now risen to a depth where light filtered down through the spine, he couldn’t decide what to do next. Several tasks demanded his immediate attention.

The entire time, his body was suffused with an unfamiliar feeling of power as the Nether rotated through his veins. If he let his mind wander to that sense of power, the air around Randidly began to hum with barely contained potency.

After chewing on his lip for a while, the first thing Randidly did was produce his Philosopher’s Key. If nothing else, his time while stuck in this place had given him plenty of time for his wounds to his Fatepiece to heal completely. He slid the key into the air and twisted the metal handle. A portal opened, showing him an empty space inside of his home solar system.

But a second later, there was a ripple in the air and the shade rapidly flew out of that empty space, passing through a veil of Nether as it did so. It streaked toward Randidly, soon merging with his body.

It was immediately obvious that the shade was completely exhausted from the ordeal. Whatever it had been doing with Expira left it drained beyond measure. The Nether Nebula it carried was depleted and listless.

Randidly’s muscles flexed and his veins bulged as the swirling force of the Nebula once more settled itself within Randidly’s Soulspace. Under his ministrations, it rapidly recovered its speed and density. The unfamiliar sense of power running through Randidly's veins and tendons had become even more evident.

Some of the missing pieces of what the shade had done settled into place as the Nether Nebula returned; it hadn’t truly been able to steal away Expira. After pushing away the overlay System, it had simply made Randidly’s physical body the ‘bubble’ that all things needed to pass through to reach the world.

In essence, as long as Randidly lived, his home planet would now be protected by the Nether Core he placed there. He was the bubble. In addition, Randidly could sense that the intimate connection that the planet shared with his body would have some implications for the Alpha Cosmos.

This outcome at least put the problem of protecting his core on the back burner for now; Randidly didn’t think that there was any being currently on Expira that could threaten it. Plus, if the shade had truly stolen the planet, how would it maintain its climate?

Randidly was looking at Expira with a complicated smile when the next wave of notifications hit him; the shade had saved the information from the completion of his Nether Core for this moment.

Warning, internal change within your body detected! Please proceed to the nearest Village Spirit in order to-

Communication Error. Recalculating… Examining shift… Generating explanation…

Congratulations! You have Generated a Nether Sphere! Monitoring energy flow… measuring power output… Assigning Rarity…

Congratulations! You have generated a Rare Nether Sphere, the Fang of the Primeval Betrayal! You have earned the Nether Attributes Weight and Connections. In order to advance the Rarity of your Nether Sphere, please increase the number of your newest Attribute, Connections.

Weight of your Neither Sphere determines your additional power within your Sphere. For each point of Weight, you will wield a .1% increase in capability in all areas. Connections demonstrate the number of living beings with your Nether Sphere with which you have a substantial connection.

Please note that it is EXTREMELY difficult to raise the Weight of your Nether Sphere. Normal advancement of Weight will require years of disciplined meditation, achieving a full rotation of significance through your Nether Core. Small additional amounts of Weight will be rewarded for exceeding the requirements for raising the Rarity of your Nether Sphere.

Ascertaining base Attributes…

Weight: 11

Connections: 1,261,697,311/25

Congratulations! You have exceeded the requisite number of Connections! For exceeding the number of Connections by 5, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 10, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 25, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 50, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 100, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 250, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 500, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 1000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 2500, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 5000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 10,000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 50,000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 100,000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 500,000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 1,000,000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 5,000,000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 10,000,000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 100,000,000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the number of Connections by 1,000,000,000, +10 Weight!

For reaching the required number of Connections, the Rarity of your Nether Sphere has increased to Ancient! For reaching the Ancient Rarity, you have unlocked the Attribute Scope!

Scope describes the reach of your Nether Sphere across a three-dimensional space.

Examining Nether Density in order to approximate Scope…

Scope: 12,509/100

Congratulations! You have exceeded the requisite Scope! For exceeding the Scope by 5, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 10, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 25, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 50, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 100, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 200, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 500, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 1000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 2500, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 5000, +10 Weight!

For exceeding the Scope by 10,000, +10 Weight!

For reaching the requisite Scope, the Rarity of your Nether Sphere has increased to Runic! For reaching the Runic Rarity, you have unlocked the Attribute Influence.

Influence increases as those connected to your Nether Sphere regard your more highly. Influence also allows those connected to you to benefit from the Weight of your Nether Sphere.

Influence: 1999/???

Grading of the user’s Influence will wait until the user starts the process.

Randidly blinked several times. Then he scratched his cheek. “Today… is just a day of notifications I guess… Not a Class in a traditional sense, but still...”

But then he turned his attention to that sense of power that Randidly felt suffusing every inch of his body. He floated over toward the familiar bone wall. After spending so much time out of sight of the wall in the depths, it was oddly nostalgic to look at it.

With a small smile on his face, Randidly laid his hand against the wall. The muscles of his arm tensed and the air around Randidly began to tremble. Waves of raw force rolled off his hand with just a thought as he mobilized the weight surrounding him. His heart began to pound. Nether swirled through his whole body. As his eyes glowed like brilliant emeralds, Randidly barred his teeth in satisfaction.

With just his fingers, he steadily scraped four long divots into the powerful bone. The exertion was such that his entire being was trembling, but the effect of the Nether Core was the real deal.